Oscillating electric fan



July 4, 1933. B. A. BENSON 1,916,599

OSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN Filed Dec. 28, 1951 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I ventor,

"wa iz July 4, 1933. B. A. BENSON 1,916,599

QSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN I Filed Dec. 28, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 \ID HIHi f l 9 Inventor:

M v w k Earfl Ee/UOO 29 I MW% July 4, 1933. A, BENSON 1,916,599

OSCILLATING ELECTRIC FAN Filed Dec. 28, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 fnveqtar'"Patented July 4, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BERNHART .A. BENSON, FCHIGAGQ. ILLINOIS, ASSIG'NOR TO CHICAGO ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING OOLTPANY,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION. OF ILLINOIS oscILLA'rme ELECTRICFAN -App1ication filed December 2 8, 1931. S'eria1No. 583,435.

My invention relates to the general class of fan motors in which themotor and fan assembly is arranged so as to oscillate about an axiswhich is upright when the axis of the fan is horizontal, therebydistributing the blast of air from the fan through a considerable are.

Ingsome of its general aspects, my invention aims to provide a simpleand inexpensive C30 mechanism whereby the rotation of the fan shafteffects this oscillation, and aims to arrange this mechanism so that itcan readily be employed in an electric fan which is also arranged sothat the axis of the fan canbe T tilted upward or downward to vary theheight at which'the blast of the fan is directed.

.In another ob1ect, my invention aims to .provide simple means wherebythe action ofv the oscillating mechanism can readily be annulled whendesired, soas to convert the electrie fan into a non-oscillating typewhen the blast of air is wanted continually in one direction. In thisconnection, my invention aims to provide such an electric fan with aling means.

Furthermore, my invention aims to provide an oscillation-effectingmechanism including a worm-wheel in which the teeth will be cutautomatically. during the initial 5 operation of this mechanism, andaims to dispose other parts of this mechanism so that theywill adjustthemselves automatically to the gradual wear on the worm-wheel.

' Still further and also more detailed ob jects will appear from thefollowing specifications and from the accompanying drawings, in whichdrawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of aninterchangeably oscillating andnon-oscillating electric fan motor of a table type embodying myinvention, taken somewhat from the rear and with the lower portion ofthe usual pedestal broken away. i V

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation 'with, the gearconcealing cover detached.

operative Fig. 3 is anelevation taken from the side of the electric fanwhich is at the left in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken along 7 the line 44 of Fig. 3 andlooking upward. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary and enlarged side elevationtaken along the line 5 5 of Fig.3. Fig. 6 is an upward section similarto Fig. 4, but taken after the worm-wheel has rotated sufiiciently toswing the axis of the fan almost to one extreme position, includingportions of the fan member.

. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary and enlarged ele- I vation taken from the line7-7 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged and fragmentary section, looking upward from theFig. 3.

Fig. 9 isa top view of my electric fan,

line 8 8 of withthe gear cover detached and a portion of the motorbroken away, and with the pivoting "stirrup omitted, showing theoscillation-effecting mechanism at one extreme of the same parts at theother extreme.

Fig.10 is a verticalsection'taken through the detached gear cover alongthe line 1010 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the gear cover andthe adjaportion of Fig. 11, with the oscillation-annulling lever. in itsinoperative position.

F gure-13 1s an end elevation. of the coyer for the oscillatingmechanism tilted forward 7 showing the oscillation-annulling'. lever inposition but spaced from the Worm 9b shaft 15.

7 In the drawings, Figs. 1 to At include the upper portionl of acustomary fan-supportcent part of the casing of the motor, along "8O ingpedestal having its upper end forked to v i receive a lug 2 betweenthej'a'rms, of thefork. 'Extending through the two fork arms 3, is

a horizontal thumb-screw4 upon which the h1g2 is pivoted; this screwextending freely through one arm of the fork and being threaded into'theother fork so as to clamp the fork arms against the lug. "Swiveled tothe upper end of the lug 2 on a pivot element 6 (Figs. 3 to 5) is thehorizontal back of a stirrup 7 which bears against the bottom of thecasing 8 of an electric fan motor 9, and which stirrup supports-themotor and its casing with freedom for oscillating about the axis of thepivot element 6.

Projecting toward one side from the lug 2 above the fork arms 3 of thepedestaL-and desirably in the same directionin which the tip of thethumb-screw 4: extends 1s a lug arm 10 to which one end of a link 11 ispivotally connected by a screw 12. The other end of the link 11, whichdesirably extends in a generally horizon-ta directiom is plvotallyconnected by a p n 13 to an. arm

14 which is considerably shorter than the link 11. This arm 14 isfastened to the lowor end of a worm-shaft 15. which has its upper endfastened .to a worm-wheel. 16, the

worm-shaft being approximately upright .and the wormwheel having itsfaces substantially horizontal.

A bracket 17 is attached to the rear of the motor casing 8 by bolts 18,which may be part of the bolts connecting two ntcrfitperiphery of thatwheel is pressed against the shaft.

To support and guide the wornrwheel and itsown shaft for this purpose. Iprovide the bracket 17, at the same side of the motor toward which thelug arm 10 extends. with superposed rearwardly extending arms 21 and 22through both of which the worm- -shaft 15 extends. thesearms havingtheirfaces parallel to the axis of the motor shaft 20. The lower of thesearms (21) is above and desirably relatively near to the shorter link 14.and has a perforation 23 through which the worm shaft extends, thisperforation being slightly larger in diameter than the worm shaft.

L The companion perforation 24 in the upper bracket arm 22. throughwhich the worm shaft also extends. IS a slot having its longer axis A 8)at right angles to the axis of the motor shaft 20; the width of thisslot being desirably such as to guide the worm shaft slidably, while thelength of the slot is considerably greater than the diameter of the wormshaft so as to permit a movement of the latter toward and away from themo torshaft.

Threadedju-pwardly through the upper bracket 22- 1s a screw 25' whichextends through aloop n a wire spring 26 as shown in Fig. 8. This springhas one end portion 26 A in engagement with the outward lateral edge ofthe bracket 17 and has its other end portion 26 B hooked over the wormshaft 15 as also shown in Fig. 3. The spring is wound around the shankof the screw 25 in such a direction that this spring continually tendsto press the upper end of the worm shaft toward the right in Fig. 8 forcausing the motor shaft 20 to be engaged by the worm-toothed peripheryof the worm-wheel 16. this worm-wheel being spaced upwardly from theupper bracket arm 22 by a washer 28 as shown in Figs. 8 and 7 so thatthis washer supports the worm-wheel and its shaft.

Thus arranged, the link 11 and the arm 14 on the shaft of the worm-wheelform portions of a'linkage operatively connecting the lug 2 on which themotor pivoted) with the motor and fan assembly which assembly includesthe motor shaft and the fan-blade member 29 fastened to the forward e ndof this motor shaft for oscillating this motor assembly about the axisof the pivoting stirrep 7 which rigidly supports that assembly.

That is to say; since the arm 14 on the shaft 15 of the worm-wheelextends radially of that shaft. each rotation of the worm-wheel willgradually swing the'arm 14 from the position shown in dotted lines in 9(in which this arm alincs with and extends from the wormwheel shaftabove the link 1.1 to

ward the screw 12 which pivots the inner end of that link to thestationary lug 2) to the other extreme position shown in full lines inFig. 9 and somewhat approximated in Fig. 6. In thisother extremeposition, the arm 14L is disposed as an effective elongation of the link11, so that in moving from one to the other extreme of its positions thelink age considerably changes the distances be tween, the screw 12 onthe stationary lug and the shaft 15 of the worm-wheel.

Since the lug 2 is stationary, the just re cited chan the position ofthe two parts of the linkage results in swinging the motor and f thestirrup 7, therebyswinging'the axis of the air blast from the line L- ofFig. 9 to the line It in the same figure, and thereafter back to theline L. This continuous oscillation is assembly about the pivoting axisof una fected by any change in the lug axis 80 (Fig. 3) with respect tothe upright axis of the pedestal, so that the fan can still bead.-justed in the usual manner for raising or lowering the blast of air.

To avoid the high cost of cutting exact worm teeth on the wormrwheel 16and of providing the rear portion of the fan shaft 20 with a speciallyshaped thread for mating with such worm teeth, I preferablycutan ordinscrew thread on this rearward shaft portion and depend on this threadfor. cutting the worm teeth on the initially.-cylindrical periphery ofa'disk which is 'of softer material than the metal of the shaft For thisdisk, I have found that a simple cen-,

trally perforated cylindrical disk punched from a sheet of vulcanizedfibrewisll suffice, owing to the yielding pressure of the disk againstthe threaded fan shaft by the spring When the initially cylindricalperiphery of such a disk is spring-pressed against the motor shaft(which here 1s also the fan shaft), this pressureimmediately causes thethreadon the shaft to'rcvolve the disk when the shaft rotates, and evenanordinary diecut thread will soon indent the periphery of the disk withthe needed worm-teeth formations. I Moreover, the yieldable mounting ofthe shaft of the worm-wheel allows that shaft to be pressedfurthertoward the. fan shaft when the fibre gradually Wears, this beingpermitted by elongating the slot 24 the upper bracket arm 22 so thattheshaft 15 of the worm-wheel is freely spaced (during the initialinstallation of my electric fan) from the slot end nearest to the fanshaft even I when the latter shaft is engaged by the 7 wheel freelyspaced from the fan shaft, and

worm-wheel as shown in Fig. 8. This use of a simple punching of hardfibre or the like for the needed wormwheel also makes the cost ofreplacing that wheel quite nominal,

To allow my appliance to be used selectlvely as va non-oscillating fan,I provide an oscillation-controlling member movable into and out of aposition in which it holds theworm- I preferably dispose this member forengaging the shaft of the worm-wheel above and near the lower bracket.arm 21, which is the bracket in which the worm shaft has the leastplay. I also preferably support this oscillation-controlling member on acover which conceals both the 'worm-wheel and the threaded fan shaftportion, and which cover guards these relatively sharp-edged parts fromcontact with the handslof the user of my electric fan. Furthermore, Idesirably employ this cover as a support for the switch which controlsthe circuit to "the fan motor.

For these lastnamed-two purposes Fig. 1 and F igsQlO to 13 inclusiveshow a f orwardly open dome-like cover 81*bearing' at itsmouth endagainst the rear face of the motor Cas ing 8, this cover being'providedat its opposite sides with forwardly projecting spring 1 fingers 32.These fingers are spaced so that they will respectively extend throughtwo slots33 (Fig. 2) in the rear wall of the mo-; tor casing 8"andhook'against the inner face I of that wall as shown in Fig. 11, therebyre-r leasably securing-the cover to the motor cask ing which in itselfis fastened to the stator or stationary portion of the motor.

The cover desirably includes a top portion which has a'slot '34 throughwhich the'actuating knob 35 of a switch 136 projects. This switch isfastenedto the cover .topportion by rivets 37 and is connected to themotor 9 by wires38 which are left sufficiently slackto I31 which slopesfrearwardly' downward and p'ermitthe cover to be swung away from the Topermit such portion, and which lever has its other arm 42 dis ose dforen a m the worm-wheel shaft 15 to press that shaft away from avertical motor casinglfor oiling the rear bearing 19 without detachingtheiwircs.

a movement of the cover, I provide a'forplane ,diametric of the fanshaft when the controlleveris swung to the position shown in F 1g. 12,thereby making the osclllatlng gear and linkage arrangement inoperative.

However, when the control lever is moved to its opposite positionofFigs. 11 and 13, the

arm 42 is spaced from the worm-wheel shaft,

thereby allowing the spring 26 to "press the worm-wheel against the fanshaft so as to make the oscillatingpart of my mechanism operative. Bypivoting the control lever on a cover part which slopes' rearwardlyupward, 'I' dispose this lever for convenient digital operation, and byshaping the cover to match the configuration of the motor casing, I canreadily make it conform to thegeneral design of my appliance. To preventthe lever from slipping out of its last-named or'opera ti've position, Ipreferably concave the free end to the/lever arm42 sothat'this arm endwill partly straddle the shaft of the worm-whee I However, while' I haveheretofore 'described my selectively oscillating and nonoscillatingelectric fan-in an embodiment in which the supporting-lug 2 is 111itself supported by a pedestal, so that'this lug con- I stitutes thesupportingmember for the fan,

"motor and oscillating mechanism assemblage,

and also have described numerous important structural details, I'do notwish to be limited inthese respects;- Obviously, many changes-might bemade fromthe above de scribed construction and arrangement with outdeparting either from the spirit of my invention or from the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an oscillating electric fan, a supporting member; an electricmotor and fan assembly including a fan shaft rotated by the;

motor, the shaft having'a, threaded portion; means pivoting the saidassembly upon the supportingmember on a pivoting axis transverse of andintersecting the fan shaft; and a mechanism interposed between thesupporting member and the said assembly for oscillating the assemblyabout the pivoting wheel meshing with the threaded shaft portion andsupported by the said assembly with the freedom for limited movementtoward and away from the said shaft portion, a worm shaft fastened tothe worm-wheel, a bracket spaced from the fan shaft and slotted tojournal and guide the worm shaft with freedom for movement toward andaway from the fan shaft, and spring means normally urging the worm shafttowards the fan shaft and pressing the worm-Wheel against the saidthreaded shaft portion. V

2. An oscillating electric fan as per claim 1, in which the mechanismincludes spring means for pressing the worm wheel against the said shaftportion; and in which the worm-wheel has an initially cylindricalperiphery, and is of a material sufficiently softer than the shaft sothat the thread of the shaft will cut the worm tooth formation.

'3. In an oscillating electric fan, a supporting structure; an electricmotor and fan assembly including a fan shaft rotated by the motor, theshaft having a threaded portion; means pivoting the said assembly uponthe supporting member on a pivoting axis transverse of and intersectingthe said shaft; and a mechanism interposed between the supportingmemberand the said assembly for oscillating the assembly about thepivoting axis; the mechanism including a worm-wheel meshing with thethreaded fan shaft portion, a worm shaft fast on the wheel, and a 40bracket fast with respect to the motor and having two bearing portionsspaced longitudinally of the worm shaft, in which portions the wormshaft is journaled with freedom for limited movement in a plane di-.ametric of the worm shaft and at right angles to the fan shaft.

4. An oscillating electric fan asper' claim 1 in which the mechanismalso includes a linkage interposed between the worm shaft '50 and aportion of the supporting member; a 7 cover attached to the motor andhousing the worm-wheel and the said threaded shaft portion; the coverhaving an opening through which the worm shaft extends, the linkage 55being disposed exterior'ly of the cover, and

axis; the mechanism including a wormmeans mounted on the interior of thecover for moving the worm-shaft away from the fan shaft and latching theworm-shaft in a ing elongated along a plane longitudinal of the wormshaft and at right angles to the fan shaft, and the perforation in theother bracket arm being only slightly larger than the diameter ofthe'worm shaft;

6. As oscillating electric fan as per claim '1, including manuallyoperable means forengaging the worm shaft and moving the worm shaft to aposition in which this worm shaft holds the said wheel out of engagementwith thefan shaft.

7. An oscillating electric fan as per claim 1, including manuallyoperable means for engaging'theworm shaft and moving the Worm shaft to aposition inwhich this worm shaft holds the said wheel out of engagementwith the fan shaft; and a cover attached to the motor and housing thew0rmwheel'and the threaded shaftfportiomthe said m-anually operablemeans being supported by the cover; the manually operable meanscomprising a lever pivoted upon the cover and having the free end of onelever armadapted to engage the said worm shaft, the other arm of thelever projecting through the cover, the said free arm end being concavedtoward the worm shaft soas to interlock with that, shaft whenthe leveris in a position in which it holds the worm-wheel out of engagement withthe fan shaft.

8. An oscillating fan as per claim 3, in whichthe two bearing portionsof the bracket are disposed one above .the other, and in which the upperof the said portions under-. hangs the worm wheel so to support the wormwheel and theavorm shaft. Y i

I Signed at Chicago, Illinois December L2 lth,:1981.- r IBERNHARTBENSON, m

